Culture
The culture of the United Kingdom, also called “British culture”, can be described as the legacy of the history of a developed island country, a great power and also as the result of the political union of four countries, each retaining its distinctive elements. of traditions, customs and symbolisms. As a result of the rule of the British Empire, the influence of British culture can be seen in the language, traditions, customs, and legal systems of many of its former colonies, such as Canada, Australia, India, and the United States.
Art and culture have historically been influenced by Western ideology. [165] Since the expansion of the British Empire, the experience of military, political and economic power led to a unique technique, taste and sensibility of UK artists. The British used their art “to illustrate their knowledge and lead the natural world,” while settlers in North America, Australasia, and South Africa “embarked on the search for a distinctive artistic expression appropriate to their national identity.” The empire was “at the center, rather than the margins, of British art history”, and the visual arts of the Victorian era have been central to the construction, celebration and expression of British identity.
Architecture
According to ALLCITYCODES, British architecture is characterized by the eclectic combination of different architectural styles, ranging from those that were prior to the creation of the country, such as Roman architecture, to contemporary architecture of the 21st century. Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales developed their unique architectural styles and played important roles in the history of world architecture. Although prehistoric and classical structures exist in the British Isles, the history of British architecture begins with the first Anglo-Saxon churches, built shortly after the arrival of Augustine of Canterbury. to Great Britain in 597. From the 12th century, Norman architecture spread across Great Britain and Ireland, in the form of castles and churches to help enforce Norman authority in their domains. The Gothic architecture English, which flourished between 1189 and 1520, was brought from France, but quickly developed its own characteristics.
Across the country, secular medieval architecture developed in the form of castles, most of them located near the border between England and Scotland, dating back to the 16th century, the time of Scotland’s wars for independence. The invention of firearms and the cannon rendered castles useless and the English Renaissance gave way to the development of new artistic styles for national architecture: the Tudor style, English Baroque, and Palladianism. Georgian and neoclassical architecture advanced after the Scottish Enlightenment, and from the 1930s various modernist styles appeared. However, the struggle for the preservation of the old structures and the resistance of the traditionalist movements has gained strength, in addition to being supported by public figures such as Charles of Wales.
Gastronomy
Historically, UK cuisine has been labeled as “tasteless dishes made with low-quality ingredients, mixed with simple sauces to accentuate the flavor rather than disguise it.” However, British cuisine has absorbed the cultural influence of established immigrants in the country, producing several hybrid dishes, such as chicken tikka masala, considered “the true British national dish”.
Traditional dishes in British cuisine include fish and chips, Sunday roast, steak and kidney pie, and bangers and mash. The gastronomy of the United Kingdom has multiple national and regional variants, such as the gastronomies of England, Scotland and Wales, which have developed their own regional dishes, such as Cheshire cheese, Yorkshire pudding and Welsh cake.
Cinema
The UK was a strong influence on the development of cinema, with Ealing Studios claiming the title of being the oldest studios in the world. Despite a history of important and successful productions, this industry is characterized by an ongoing debate about its identity and the influences of American and European cinema. The British market is too small for the British film industry to successfully produce Hollywood-style blockbusters for a sustained period. Compared to the American one, the British film industry has not been able to produce commercial successes internationally; so it maintains a complex and divided attitude towards Hollywood. Nevertheless, Titanic, two episodes of The Lord of the Rings, two of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy and three films of the Harry Potter saga.
Philosophy
The United Kingdom is famous for the tradition of “British empiricism”, a branch of the philosophy of knowledge that indicates that the only valid knowledge is that which is proven by experience; and of “Scottish Philosophy”, which is sometimes called the “Scottish school of common sense”. The most famous philosophers of British empiricism are: John Locke, George Berkeley and David Hume, while Dugald Stewart, Thomas Reid and William Hamilton were the main exponents of the Scottish school of common sense. Britain is also notable for a theory of moral philosophy, Utilitarianism, first used by Jeremy Bentham. and later by John Stuart Mill, in his homonymous work Utilitarianism. Other eminent philosophers of the United Kingdom and the states that preceded it include Duns Scotud, John Lilburne, Mary Wollstonecraft, Francis Bacon, Adam Smith, Thomas Hobbes, William of Ockham, Bertrand Russell, and Alfred Jules Ayer.
